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Vettel fastest in Singapore practice

Sebastian Vettel, shown racing around the Singapore course, was the fastest car in practice on Friday. Photo by LAT PHOTOGRAPHIC

Sebastian Vettel bounced back from his frustrating retirement in Italy to post the fastest time in Singapore on Friday, while Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso led the chase.

Heavy rain arrived a couple of hours before the Formula One cars went out, and after Ferrari Challenge and GP2 action the track was still damp for the daylight start of the session. However, the track soon dried and slick tires were employed well before the end, although the damp period meant teams were not able to complete their planned programs. Vettel topped the session, ahead of Lewis Hamilton, Button and Alonso.

“This is a tough circuit for drivers and cars," Vettel said. "Overall we can be happy with today, but let’s see what we do tomorrow, it’s still Friday and today’s results are not so conclusive as some drivers got stuck in traffic. Most important is that the car seemed to work on either tire, so we go from there. The curbs have been changed this year, which is an improvement.

Times soon began to tumble in the lower temperatures of the second session, with everyone getting some consistent dry running in. Vettel set a time that was a handy 0.311 second ahead of nearest pursuer Button, and 0.556 second clear of Alonso. Nevertheless it's already clear that all three teams will be in the hunt this weekend.

Mark Webber underlined Red Bull's strong form with fourth, ahead of Lewis Hamilton, who showed good pace earlier in the session.

Force India's hopes of a good weekend appeared to be realised as Paul Di Resta and Nico Hulkenberg took sixth and seventh. The top 10 was completed by Nico Rosberg, Felipe Massa and Romain Grosjean. Michael Schumacher and Kimi Raikkonen were clearly not happy in 11th and 12 places.

As usual there were a few trips up escape roads and spins, but the only man to make significant contact with the wall was Bruno Senna, who briefly brought out a red flag after he broke his left rear suspension in the second session.